The Lita Vietor View
Nikomat FTN, Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5, Nikon Y44 light yellow filter, Ilford HP5 Plus
I am still scanning away, and it is slow going. Even with simple family shots I cannot resist some cleanup via the Photoshop clone tool to remove some scratches, hot spots, etc. on my film. For slide film I can use the infrared channel cleanup in Vuescan, but for negative film that isn’t possible so I have to go the manual route.
Infrared cleanup (for scanners and software that support it) is a lifesaver with slide film. It is kind of like an automatic version of a clone/intelligent heal tool. By using the infrared channel during the scanning process Vuescan (and other scanning applications that support it) can automatically identify where the emulsion has been scratched, where there is lint/dust, and other disturbances with or on your positive image and then fill in that spot based on surrounding image data.
This can easily save five, ten, fifteen minutes or more per image if you are “detail oriented” like me and like clean images. I think I spent ten minutes cleaning up the B&W image above (negative, so infrared not possible…). This is back from the winter by the way, and there is a slight possibility my Dad was actually the photographer as we were passing the Nikomat back and forth. It was the first roll I put through that camera which has been my favorite classic shooter of late.
Which makes me wonder even more about dr5‘s chrome positive B&W developing process. They offer their own custom chemistry for your B&W negatives to turn them into B&W positive processed film. This is not unlike good old Agfa Scala, may it rest in peace. But I am curious to see if their B&W positives can leverage infrared cleanup during the scanning process. That could be a tremendous time saver for B&W shooting!
I think the next roll I will shoot (after my scan fest is finally over) will be a roll of Ilford HP5 Plus destined to pilot my use of the dr5 chrome process. They say it is their highest volume film type, so it should go well.
